


Decision

by me413



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: F/M, Love Triangles, Memory Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29719650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/me413/pseuds/me413
Summary: A blonde man with blue eyes wakes up in a theater, surrounded by men and women in a waltz, leaving him to look for his own partner.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Decision

He had woken here. Four years had passed since he had been in this theater. That single night so long ago had etched the memory of a certain woman into his heart. Then, he had knelt before her as a knight in a play, saving her from a dragon in a fairytale. Now he was here alone, trying to cut past the thick veil of the many moons past to remember her. Smiling radiantly on him, that girl had been a dream. Now he fell back into the slumber that his memories afforded him, eyes closed as she shut out the world around him. Throngs of people danced, swaying to the music of an orchestra as he stood alone amidst them. 

As the evening wind blew through his blonde spikes, the breeze drew his gaze to her. Then the azure of his eyes caught her for a split second. Her smile was just as he had remembered it. He couldn’t recall when he had first seen it or when it had begun to leave an ache in his chest. Illuminated by the twinkling of the stars above or heavenly rays cast through a holy place, the memory eluded this man. The true might of his mental powers could only return the surge in his heart at the sight of her. And as she turned away, he followed like he always had. 

The souls around him soared, their steps light as he remained rooted to the ground in search of the fair lady. The length of her hair swayed with each step, trailing behind her as she stepped gently to the music. He was entranced by her grace, weaving in between the forms before her. Further and further she left him, her twists and turns leaving her eyes locked with his as the distance grew between them. Yet her orbs spoke only of affection, words unneeded even as she began to vanish into the endless wave around them, taking the memory of her eyes with her. Though she had just left, he found himself struggling to remember once more. The swelling music was drowned out by her, the simple image of her a symphony unto itself. One that he would listen to endlessly were it not for the haze within his own mind separating him from all that was her. 

Yet even as his mind grew heavy and the crowd seemed to thicken, he searched for her without rest. One foot in front of the other, the man soldiered onwards, his efforts rewarded by the sight of ascending a staircase away from the waltz that had kept them from one another. At the very rear of the theater, he reached out to her in the shadows, finally telling her what he had held in him for so long. Yet it was all for naught as the night was lit up by the roar of fireworks overhead, his words lost to the second symphony of crackles and pops. But there was solace to be found, her visage graced by their light. Even then, she was still formless even as she stood in front of him. He wanted to scream. To yell. To curse this night and its sight and sounds for leaving him with nothing but a fragment of her. But every dark urge within him vanished when she smiled at him. And with such a simple gesture, this woman began to take shape. 

He remembered her smile. Demure yet overflowing with love. Shining yet brimming with gentleness. 

He remembered her eyes. Soft carmine. Shimmering jade.

He remembered her the color of her hair. Flowing dark tresses the color of a quiet night. Earthen brown locks like the very ground beneath his feet.

He remembered two women. And his promises to each.

“Cloud?”

And then he remembered which one had chosen, turning to face his love as the waltz reached its height. 

**Thank you the London Symphony Orchestra’s Words Drowned By Fireworks. It’s a piece that deals with Cloud’s undecided feelings Aerith and Tifa. It’s also the piece that built this one in my head. So enjoy and I hope you review!**


End file.
